legal Dong Jin Kim hit with another WIPO this time on BPost.com

[Robbie]

Domain investor Dong Jin Kim is hit with another WIPO on his generic domain names this time by BPost NV after 19 years they want to upgrade from bPost.be to the Dot Com

Read the story on Robbies Blog

http://robbiesblog.com/bpost-com-hit-with-wipo-case/7078

 

[Gube]

I can comment a bit here as I live in Belgium and my father was working for bpost not so long ago as a business analyst on the support part.
The company (I think we can call it a company, it's not a public service anymore) had to operate a switch on their core business. As the volume of letters and postal cards kept getting lower and lower and packets were slightly up, they had to change their focus.
Packets generally mean fast delivery, in Belgium and international with great tracking solutions.
For their tracking page, they are using a .cloud domain (track.bpost.cloud)

Now getting the .com could probbaly help them to go international (mainly for corporate customers, individuals won't be affected too much), it would help to gain trust too probably if switching away from .cloud

Could bpost have bought the domain from the current owner?
Possible. This year, bpost investors won't receive any dividend. The company stats were impacted by the current crisis but the results were still better than hoped so the stock value increased (no loss).
Now for bpost, spending money on a domain might not be the best investment at the moment.
Competition is high for packets.

As for the RDNH question, I'm not sure exactly. Bpost has not always been called bpost, the name was introduced a few years ago, before it was just "the post", it could have an impact on the resolution of this WIPO case.

 

[Robbie]

Thanks for your comment, great getting the insight from a local in Belgium

 

[NickB]

I can comment a bit here as I live in Belgium and my father was working for bpost not so long ago as a business analyst on the support part.
The company (I think we can call it a company, it's not a public service anymore) had to operate a switch on their core business. As the volume of letters and postal cards kept getting lower and lower and packets were slightly up, they had to change their focus.
Packets generally mean fast delivery, in Belgium and international with great tracking solutions.
For their tracking page, they are using a .cloud domain (track.bpost.cloud)

Now getting the .com could probbaly help them to go international (mainly for corporate customers, individuals won't be affected too much), it would help to gain trust too probably if switching away from .cloud

Could bpost have bought the domain from the current owner?
Possible. This year, bpost investors won't receive any dividend. The company stats were impacted by the current crisis but the results were still better than hoped so the stock value increased (no loss).
Now for bpost, spending money on a domain might not be the best investment at the moment.
Competition is high for packets.

As for the RDNH question, I'm not sure exactly. Bpost has not always been called bpost, the name was introduced a few years ago, before it was just "the post", it could have an impact on the resolution of this WIPO case.

Wikipedia shows "Before 2010, it was known as De Post in Dutch and La Poste in French, meaning "the Post" in each case in English."

As the domain has been regged since 2001 will this have a factor in the decision making process?

Edit:

https://postandparcel.info/33576/news/de-post-la-poste-rebrands-as-bpost/

"A De Post-La Poste statement said: “The company has experienced a complete transformation in the past decade. Dozens of change projects have been rolled out to improve service quality and the efficiency of procedures. The corporate culture has also evolved towards greater customer-focus and competitiveness.

“The postal market as a whole is also witnessing change. Large parts of that market have been liberalised in recent years. The last remaining monopoly will be broken in 2011 to create a completely open postal market in Belgium and the rest of the European Union. With the raft of change projects over the past decade, De Post-La Poste is now ready for D-day on 1 January next year.

“De Post-La Poste feels this is the right time to clearly signal the arrival of the new post.”"

 

[AEProgram]

should be a crime to abuse WIPO

 

[Mytz.com]

Is such an act legal?

 

[CraigD]

should be a crime to abuse WIPO

I don't think it is a crime per se, but it may fall under RDNH
https://icannwiki.org/Reverse_Domain_Name_Hijacking